Change Management

People naturally resist change when it first happens, but they also want to be a part of change once they’re clear about what we’re doing. In this month’s Growth, Leadership and Management Tip I’ll tell you why the most important skill you’ll ever master as a business owner is change management.

Often a principal comes back to the office inspired by a great training session and holds a Braveheart speech about all the incredible things you’re going to make happen. But your people remember what happened – or didn’t happen – the last time you did this.

When you think about change, the first thing is to have a set of questions you need to answer. Identify the problem you need to solve and develop a positive leadership vision for what the solution is going to look like. Then think about who is going to be impacted by the change and develop an action plan so you can finally put it all into play.

These are the steps to make change really happen. The business that can change and adapt to new conditions is the one that wins. Change management is your role as a leader, to step your people through these changes, empower them, and get them engaged. Be that leader and your people will want to make change happen.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Growth, Leadership, and Management Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next month.

Changed Agents Award Finalist – John Campbell

John Campbell from Ray White is one of our New Zealand Changed Agents Award 2018 finalists. He describes how the first six month of real estate was the toughest time in his life.

John Campbell left a management role and joined the real estate industry at the age of 40.

“From being the boss to having a boss and starting at the bottom with zero income, a young family to support and a house in Auckland with an Auckland-sized mortgage – it was a tough time for my family and me” he said.

Behind this successful man, was a supportive woman. “I did talk with my amazing wife about the fear that I was not good enough, that maybe this wasn’t working out. She set me straight by reminding me that I was happier than I had been in years and that my results were accumulating. She was right, on both counts.”

Mr Campbell describes how his previous life in sales and management didn’t prepare him for the real estate industry.

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“It’s a whole new playing field. Good thing I am competitive and customer-centric,” he shared. Coming from a background that had nothing to do with real estate, Mr Campbell said he was soaking up every piece of advice, working seven days a week and 18 hours a day.

“The goal was to build my business fast and at whatever the cost. Thankfully Josh helped me realise there was another way. While I had to start at zero, I reached 100 in less than two years and I am still accelerating” said Mr Campbell.

Josh Phegan taught him to provide an exemplary service during every stage.

Mr Campbell also learned how to prospect and make follow-up calls with structure. “It transformed his business and my confidence levels. Listening to someone else make the calls, rather than being told how to do them – it was invaluable to me,” he said.

While Mr Campbell hasn’t been in the industry for long, he’s already ranked among the top performers in the country and has won a variety of awards within the Ray White Group.

His advice to other agents:

– Add value where other agents can’t
– Be memorable for even the little things
– Be genuine

“If you nail that, in my experience, you’ll stand out,” he said.

Ep 156 – Pru Kelly on Being a Great PA

This Special Edition podcast series continues with Josh Phegan and Pru Kelly around being a great personal assistant. Pru begins with understanding your boss and your team, and remembering that real estate is not 9 to 5. It’s about going the extra mile and always staying a step ahead. She tells how she keeps coordinated and on top of things, and how she prioritises tasks by understanding what’s most urgent to winning or losing the business. They discuss how they maintain communication and adjust expectations when things get stressful.

Josh ends with a reminder that it’s what you do when things are quiet that makes all the difference when things get busy. He tells how he uses trigger words to let his team know what’s going on, and how to prepare for high performance during quiet patches.

Be Intentional About Chosen Markets

The type of market you choose depends on how you intend to generate leads and the people you’ll get to meet. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll help you to be intentional about chosen markets so you’ll be able to build the business you want.

Consider your low, average and high-end sale prices. People buying high-end properties may be selling at an average sale price, whilst people buying at the average price may sell at a low price. And people buying low-end properties may be investors or landlords. Too many agents miss out on the opportunities these underserved customers represent.

As your career develops you may start in the lower price ranges, step up to the medium range, and then get to the high end. Regardless of price, make sure you start out in the marketplace that you want to end up in.

Choose a marketplace that is big enough for your aspirations and dynamic enough for the kind of business you want to build. The market you choose also determines the mediums you’ll use to connect with customers, whether it’s a social market, or you’ll use newspaper ads or outdoor signage.

Lead generation is changing. Realising that sellers are also buyers can direct you to generate leads in a completely different way. It’s about getting the average sale price right to bring you more trade-ins. To be intentional about chosen markets make sure the customer sees you as highly valuable. Learn how to trade in your marketplace and tell a better story to get the markets you deserve.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Changed Agents Award Finalist – Tom Rawson

Tom Rawson from Ray White is one of our New Zealand Changed Agents Award 2018 finalists. The successful agent describes the moment he almost quit the industry and changed the negative perceptions about real estate agents.

Tom Rawson operates under the SWAN theory, “Sleep Well At Night”.

“I want to go to sleep each night knowing I have done the best I can for my clients and for my family,” he said.

One of Mr Rawson’s biggest challenges was how real estate agents can be perceived by the public.

“I came from the private security industry where trust was a given, so moving into real estate where there is a lack of trust in agents was tough.

I had to change the public’s perception. I had to make sure clients could see that I am trustworthy. I did this by sticking to my word and delivering top service in a timely manner with the client’s best interests at heart.”

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Another crucial moment in Mr Rawson’s career was his first year in business.

“I wasn’t able to have a personal life when entering real estate. My relationship broke down, I was stressed and wanted to quit.”

Mr Rawson said attending Josh Phegan’s BluePrint sessions have helped him break bad habits and develop work/life balance.

“I would recommend all agents starting out to attend BluePrint. The sooner the better. For experienced agents, it’s never too late to break bad habits and implement some of Josh’s ideas and structure,” said Mr Rawson. Building a brand around a trustworthy reputation is what has helped Mr Rawson stand-out from the rest.

“My clients now trust my advice, service and values. This ensures I’m often referred.

It means I win more business because I build trust in all parties involved, including the buyer, who then becomes a seller and a referral for my business,” he said.

Mr Rawson’s business revolves around routine, consistency, and results. His advice to other agents wanting to lift their game:

“Create a trusted brand and continue to work on being an attraction business. I don’t own too many colourful suits and shirts. I refuse to wear a tie. I think you would be mad to get into real estate, and not have a blueprint to follow. I ask the right questions, and I plan my time away, I am still working on the perfect balance, if that exists,” he said.

Ep 155 – Pru Kelly on Running Team Phillips

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan talks with Alexander Phillips’ executive assistant Pru Kelly, with a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to run Alex’s business. Pru outlines what’s really important to make a team work. She discusses the structure they work within and how they keep everyone on the same page. That includes weekly meetings to review the numbers and provide support for the team. Team Phillips is goal driven, and Pru describes how flexibility and basing measurements on outcomes keeps them highly productive.

When Alex is out of the office Pru is in charge. She tells how she keeps the campaigns moving and the listings flowing. In her pivotal role constant communication is key. Josh wraps up the discussion with a summary of what it takes to make sure the team works.

Client Communications

If today’s real estate consumer could press a button and not have to deal with an agent, they would. My Coaching Tip this week is about how to master client communications that will make the process really easy for the client.

A lot of clients are astute about the market, so when they see what they like they want to make an offer right away. Often they have a sense of urgency around a job relocation, or maybe they’ve just sold their house, or maybe this property is close to a school.

How you communicate with your vendor is important in making sure they’re ready to sell when the opportunity arises. You never want them to worry about what’s going on inside of their campaign. Have daily conversations with them around new listings and properties sold since your vendors listed theirs. Current listings and new competition can really impact your clients’ expectations.

If there are no offers there can be no decision. It’s important that your clients see that you’re doing the work to bring in the offers, and that the marketing is working. Be sure to maintain open, fluid client communications from day one of the campaign. As market dynamics change, you want your clients’ responses and expectations to change with them.

In your communications there’s a difference between helping people understand what is being said and saying it in a way that they can accept it. Your part is to learn to deliver that information in a way that is impactful and powerful.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Using Technology to Scale Service

Drive service levels with new tech. Customer experience design matters. The customer want’s better. We live in a world where you press a button, and a car turns up, you press another one and dinner turns up, and you can press another button and have a new potential partner turn up.

Today’s consumer doesn’t want to buy, nor do they want to sell. They don’t want to use an agent. They don’t want to live where they currently are; they want to live somewhere else. If they could press a button and make that happen, they would.

In the new world, you have to redesign your customer service offering so that you can get more of the jobs done. What are the jobs the customer is trying to get done? What are the underlying jobs they also need to get done?

Technology helps to scale service. As software eats into the tasks lists, automation takes over and helps you to do more with less. If you don’t embrace new technologies, you get left behind and stuck in archaic time-consuming processes.

The role of technology is to make things easier so you can focus on the things that drive your business, like getting on the phone and getting in front of consumers.

Today’s consumer has unmet needs, unidentified needs and unsatisfied needs. The agent that can meet, identify and satisfy those needs is the one that wins. Technology allows you to scale the service by evolving systems. Systems like forms (to capture information), checklists (to ensure consistent service), visuals (to communicate powerful messages) and dialogues (to be more active on the phone) are the essential elements to scale a business.

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No one piece of software will ever be your solution. What you need to build is an app stack. Just like on your phone, it’s a group of apps that complete specific functions, so you can minimise stress, maximise output, drive efficiency and personal effectiveness. With API’s apps can talk to each other, sharing data, causing trigger events and automating essential elements of service, so you can focus on the real value adds.

When selecting technology look for the following:

1. What’s the problem you’re trying to solve?
What you think is the problem is rarely the problem. When you understand the problem you’re trying to solve you can put in the best system in place to get the result. Most people think prospecting is their issue, yet if they served their existing customers well, those customers would lead to more customers. Definition of the client service journey allows you to understand workflow – what needs to happen next? Moreover, who’s involved? What technology is required?

2. How does it work/play with your existing app stack?
Tech needs to talk, but not all tech is the same. Syncing needs to be two way, immediate and in the moment. As you scale and grow, you need a robust tech platform that can handle the load as you go from one office to many, one salesperson to a team.

3. Is it mobile first?
You can do everything on your mobile, make sure every app is mobile first, that way you keep your team mobile and your systems simple.

4. Does it scale, especially to multiple team members?
Workflow matters. As your team grows, you need adoption of all of your essential systems. How does the application work with multiple users and ensure there’s no wastage?

5. Can you talk to real life users and see it in play?
There’s nothing like seeing the technology in play and learning from power users who’ve mastered the tech. Seeing tech in new applications opens your mind to new possibilities. I’m ok with people only using 10% of an app if that 10% solves a significant problem.

You don’t need to be the best; you need to employ the best advisors to get the job done. Service is the way of the future, the secret to higher fee’s and return customers. Technology allows you to automate so you can focus your energy on what counts – real customer interaction.

This article first appeared in the REINSW Journal

Changed Agents Award Finalist – Bob Voss

Bob Voss from Barfoot and Thompson is one of our New Zealand Changed Agents Award 2018 finalists. This former swim champion shares how juggling a busy family life, all the while growing, was the biggest challenge of his life.

Bob Voss knows the definition of busy more than most.

“With two kids under two, it was late night wake-ups, interrupted sleep, managing a business, trying to stay fit, but also trying to put my family commitments in the diary first before anything else,” he explained.

As a real estate agent trying to lift his game, Mr Voss had to find a strategy that worked for him.

“Because I am very time poor with a young family at home, I had to make the hours at work count. I cut out all the unproductive work and focused on the dollar producing activities,” he said. “I set a structure in my business of what time I start work and when I get home (always home 5-7pm weekdays). I have since spent the same or less hours at work but got a lot more out of the hours.”

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Mr Voss said It was Josh Phegan’s training that gave him a better understanding of setting schedules for the days ahead.

“I focused on getting on the phones early, booking appointments with clients and getting face-to-face. I pretty much cut out social media, e-marketing, letterbox drops and put all my energy into building and working my database,” Mr Voss shared.

By doing this, he almost doubled the number of his transactions. “I felt a lot more in control at work and built a steady, solid pipeline of potential sellers. I also gained a lot more referrals by being genuine and adding value to people’s lives. I felt as if I was progressing the customer rather than harassing them,” he said.

Key to Mr Voss’ success is always putting the client first.

“I try to act as if every client was a family member of mine. How can I best help the client sitting in front of me, regardless of fees or business?”

Mr Voss represented New Zealand at three world swimming championships and was a New Zealand record holder. He believes he has trained himself to have great discipline, work ethic, and focus and has used these traits in his real estate business.

“I think I’m very patient and empathetic, which helps when it comes to understanding buyers’ and sellers’ stressful situations,” he said. Most importantly, building a successful business is about building a life and legacy for his two little girls.

“I’m not doing it just for myself; I want to grow our family’s wealth, so my kids can have the ability to pursue their opportunities in life with my financial backing.”

Ep 154 – Dominate Your New Market

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discuss ways to dominate your new market by building market share. Alex describes what his agency is currently doing in their newest market. Josh advises playing to your existing strengths and getting to know your new market area by spending time there. Alex adds the effectiveness of using your market knowledge and data in the right way and building on it from there.

Josh emphasises getting the intention to own the new market, and Alex details how dominance is built one step at a time. Josh adds choosing a marketplace that’s big enough for your aspirations and remembering that each new market leads upward to your next.